war

1. wire and explosive mines—as well as bullets and grenades—were essential weapons used to hinder infantry advances across “No Man’s Land,” the bleak landscape between the trenches of the opposing sides.
3. 1915, the Germans used poison gases against the Allies fighting in the trenches on the Western Front. To protect soldiers from chemical warfare, gas masks were developed. Great Britain made one of the first types of masks capable of minimizing the deadly impact of these gases on their troops.
5. considered a novelty when the war began, aircraft were used by both sides for reconnaissance, allowing personnel to observe enemy troop positions, to direct artillery fire and to photograph enemy lines. By the end of the war, the concepts of aerial combat and aerial bombing had come into being.
7. offensive weapons were implemented during the war including tanks and poison gases*.
8. was one of the poisonous gases used in World War I. It was damaging to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs, and produced symptoms ranging from irritation to blindness and death.)

2. World War I, trench warfare was a defensive military tactic used extensively by both sides, allowing soldiers some protection from enemy fire but also hindering troops from readily advancing and thus prolonging the war. Trench warfare was the major combat tactic in France and Belgium. Trenches were often dug up to 12 feet deep and stretched for miles. For stability, some trenches included wooden beams and/or sandbags. Even during lulls in the fighting, death occurred almost daily in the trenches due to a sniper’s bullet or the unsanitary living conditions which resulted in many diseases such as dysentery, typhus and cholera. Other diseases caused by the poor conditions were trench mouth and trench foot*.
4. mouth was an infection of the mouth due to overgrowth of certain oral bacteria. The condition was made worse by poor oral hygiene, smoking, malnutrition and psychological stress. To prevent trench foot, a fungal disease caused by exposure to wet and cold, soldiers frequently added wooden planks in the trenches to keep from having to stand in water.
6. armored against artillery fire, were capable of rolling over barbed wire as well as crossing treacherous terrain.